Nordismn
Nordismn (Also known as 'Pockmark' to modern Humans) was a Forerunner garden world which was typically used as a sanctuary for Lifeworkers. The planet was known in the ecumene for being seeded with a wide variety of plant and animal life that were gathered by the rate. The planet was also reputed to be a favorite retreat location for the Lifeshaper of the time, The Watcher. He was known to come to the planet in times of personal stress and when in need of great meditation. The planet itself was devoid of most population centers and was host only to a small score of permanent residents, mostly Lifeworkers, but Builders were known to frequent the homes of the planet. The Watcher himself commonly took his meditation either in a specially designed citadel for him placed at the planet's northern pole, or in a geosynchronized orbit over the largest jungle of the planet in a small station that was also used for planetary monitoring. Additionally, Nordismn was also allowed to be used for Juridicial hearings commonly, as some of the rate found the planet to be calming of body and mind. 80,000 years before the firing of the Halo Array, Nordismn was used as the location for the trial of Spade-with-Cracks for his destruction of Dole Breinng. Planetary Description Despite its presence within the Immolt system, located within Thema 102, Nordismn was actually intially unsuitable for life. The planet itself was second in its system, which under different circumstances would have been perfect for creating life as it was within the habitable zone. However, Nordismn lacked an atmosphere which was supposedly blown away by prenatal stellar winds. At this time, the enitre planet was barren with lava lakes being the only form of 'liquid' on the surface. This was the case until around three millions years ago when Forerunners decided that the planet would be terraformed. The method of which would have been something considered primitive to their zenith culture: blunt force terraformation. Forerunners diverted comets from the system's Oort Cloud and used them to impact the planet to bring liquid water to it as well as create their own atmosphere. The pre-terraformed Nordismn was perfectly capable of holding its own atmosphere, which meant that this final effort was all that was needed to perfect the world. This new world took on an entirely trasplanted ecosystem with samples and specimins being brought from many other worlds to help populate this new place. Forerunners were fond of bringing deema, flying ray-like creatures, to this world. Forerunners ensured though that the transplanted species were compatible with each other in order not to cause an ecological disaster. This made Nordismn a valuable world during the closing days of the Forerunner empire as specimins were gathered from this world to bring to the Arks for preservation from the Halos. Thanks to its volcanism in its past, the planet was interwoven with subterranean tunnels, sometimes measuring hundreds of feet across. After the Forerunner terraformation, these tunnels either became water tunnels with fresh liquid flowing through them, or they served as transitways to other parts of the planet. Lifeworkers in actuality created two ecosystems: one above and one below the world. This allowed nearly two entire planets worth of life forms to be stored there. It wasn't hollowed, but it was layered. Following the Halo activation over a hundred thousand years ago, the planet had become abandoned, but with the automatic reseeding process following the activation, the planet returned to its life, but this time without its caretakers. However, forty thousand years following the reseeding, Immolt suffered a premature stellar collapse causing it to nova, blowing stellar gas fast enough to strip the planet down to its dead skin, leaving it as it barren as it once was, with only the strongest of Forerunner structures to remain as evidence of their presence. Craters are evident on the planet's surface tactically placed so that the force of the impact could be aborbed by the planet without causing much distress on the planet's orbit, which is evidence of the Forerunner's terraformation techniques. Natural impact craters are also present which seem to be billions of years older than the Forerunner's. One particularly large impact is present near the north pole which is not in pattern with the larger impacts. This suggests, along with the evidence of subsequent impacts within the crater and along its rim, that this was the product of an incredibly massive asteroid which struck near the pole, ejecting material out of the planet, which caused the formation of the planet's only moon, the name of which has been lost to time and computer corruption. UNSC Colonization In 2644 as part of the wave of recolonization effort following the Human-Covenant War, Nordismn, known in the Reytold-Kojima catalogue as RK-552-A, colloquially 'Pockmark' because of its craters. The planet itself is not habitable to Human life, it does contain valuable resources such as silicates and gold which is useful for superconductors. Mining cities have been erected on its planet and Pockmark hosted a population of approximately 110,000 people, many of which have a deep mining culture from the American Appalachians. This colonization is known in the surrounding worlds as the Gold Rush of the time. In 2662, word got out about the resources and the population suddenly boomed to close to a million. This was for personal gain as well as for the technological sector as private companies began to buy up stakes of land on the planet. To this day, mining procedures continue, but the initial zeal has long passed. The culture of the miners has deepened, but they still have their American mining roots by naming cities after those famous in the 19th century rush of the time. In terms of colonist attitudes, the white dwarf which is what remains of Immolt does not have the same light as a star of larger size, but it provides enough light to be able to safely cross the surface. The atmosphere is still present, though it is not as strong as it was before. This is possibly because some Forerunner atmospheric processors may be functioning on the planet and have not been found yet. The landscape is still barren though and the CAA and UEG have not considered a re-terraformation effort. All food and water is grown and harvested within the protected cities. List of Appearances *The Meeting (First Appearance) Category:Locations Category:Planet Category:Forerunner